2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 38,020 people earned their degree in public health, making the major the 27th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, public health graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $41,740 and had an average of $35,895 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 3,473 public health graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,224 and $31,210 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 71 public health graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,605 and $16,886 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public health. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public health programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public health program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region associate degree public health students.

Top 3 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Public Health in the Southwest Region

#1

Austin Community College District

Austin, Texas

#1 in overall quality

$6,861 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Austin Community College District. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region. This large school is located in Austin, Texas, and it awarded 10 associates’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

Austin Community College District not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Health Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $6,861 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Public Health students per year to attend Austin Community College District.

Read full report on Public Health at Austin Community College District

#2

New Mexico State University - Dona Ana

Las Cruces, New Mexico

#2 in overall quality

$5,539 Average Net Price

$22,329 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend New Mexico State University - Dona Ana. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region. New Mexico State University - Dona Ana is a public institution located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 20 associates’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NMSU Dona Ana, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Health Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $5,539 for southwest region associate degree public health students per year to attend NMSU Dona Ana.

Full NMSU Dona Ana Public Health Report

#3

Arizona Western College

Yuma, Arizona

#3 in overall quality

$10,165 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona Western College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Health Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region. This medium-sized school is located in Yuma, Arizona, and it awarded 2 associates’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

AWC also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Health Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Arizona Western College is $10,165 for southwest region associate degree public health students.

Read more about Public Health at Arizona Western College

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Public Health

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Article 25 Flickr.

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